Does the New York City schools chancellor need to be an educator? Not necessarily. But Mayor Michael Bloomberg needs to make a more persuasive case that his appointee, Cathleen Black, a publishing executive, will be effective running a school system for 1.1 million children.

At least previous chancellors Joel Klein and Harold Levy had some connection to New York public schools.

So far, as far as I can tell, his only reference to her qualifications has been an assertion that she is a “superstar manager” and that “there is virtually nobody who knows more about the needs of the 21st century workforce for which we need to prepare our kids.” She has no teaching experience, no experience in education policy, didn’t attend public schools herself and didn’t send her children to public schools. No wonder the mayor’s announcement has left lots of people scratching their heads.

State law requires that the New York City schools chancellor have a superintendent’s license, but allows the city to request a waiver if a candidate has "exceptional training and experience" that represents the "substantial equivalent." The previous two chancellors, Joel Klein and Harold Levy, are both lawyers who received waivers from the State Department of Education. Mr. Levy had been a member on the State Board of Regents and served on a commission investigating crumbling school buildings. Mr. Klein, a proud public school graduate who briefly taught middle school, speaks movingly about the importance of public school in his life — and persuasively about the need to give all children the quality education he received when he lived in a housing project in Queens.

Ms. Black may well have the temperament and management skills needed for the job. Still, in the absence of more information about her, the mayor’s choice is a curious one. It’s tempting to ask: “Would the mayor have named a publishing executive as head of the Department of Health?”